City of Light

Together in Paris! All flights, connections and bad airline food clung to their schedules and I got to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris an hour before Sharon this morning. When we met as expected in the Arrivals area we knew the trip was off to a great start. It was wonderful to see each other again after three months!

We found our modest but charming hotel , Les Tuileries, tucked away near the Jardin des Tuileries, site of a royal palace that was burned down during the French Revolution. The guillotine was just down the street...

Just about everything famous in Paris is walking distance of our hotel (if you include long walks), The Louvre, The Eiffel Tower, Champs d'Elysee and all the incredible museums. Paris really is the most beautiful city in the world, and that's why there are so many Chinese tourists here - it rocks more than a stupid "Great Wall".

After a nap, Sharon and I went to a nearby bistro and bought some nice sandwiches and a bottle of wine to have a picnic at the Jardin des Tuileries. The lady at the shop made a great fuss about making up a fancy package for us and opened the wine. Yes, in France it's legal to take an opened bottle of wine to a park and actually drink it. Imagine that. I'm sure French society is on the verge of collapse because of the loose liquor laws, but for now everything seems to be under control. But don't try that in Nova Scotia - you could go to jail.

In the evening we took a tour of Paris on one of the famous Bateaux Mouches on the Seine. It was spectacular to see all the famous landmarks lit up at night - Notre Dame cathedral and the Eiffel Tower, especially. That's why they call Paris the City of Light.